Around the Clock Safety with Bosch Smart Home and the New 24/7 Emergency Call Service

Stuttgart – Fires and water leakage not only pose a danger to life and limb, but also number among the most common types of damage in German households. When failing to detect these events early on, they can often lead to expensive damages. In Germany alone there are about 220,000 house fires each year. Many of these fires are caused by electricity and human error.¹ More than half of all European households have suffered water damage.² In many cases, the immense costs caused by water damage are not reimbursed to residents in full. External Dangers: In Germany, break-ins or attempted break-ins in apartments or houses were reported to be at about 75,000 cases in 2020 alone.³

The Smart Solution: Help Connect

Whether it’s a fire, water leakage or burglary: the worst moment for an emergency to occur is when you are not at home.
The Bosch Smart Home app reliably notifies you in such instances. However, what if you are not available or cannot personally intervene at such a crucial moment?
In an emergency every second counts. That’s why Bosch Smart Home offers a solution in the form of the new Help Connect service.

In the event of a fire, burglary or water leakage the 24/7 protection service will immediately coordinate an emergency response. If the residents do not respond to the alarm on site or through the Bosch Smart Home app, Help Connect steps in. First, the user is contacted by phone. If the user cannot be reached by phone, the predefined emergency contact is called. If this individual cannot be reached, the local fire brigade and/or police are automatically contacted, and rapid assistance is initiated.

Bosch Smart Home has offered Protect+ in the app as an all-round device protection since January 2022. Thus, Help Connect is now the second subscription service that Bosch Smart Home offers its app users.

Extra Security in the Event of a Break-in

This practical additional service provides an additional level of security, for example, when users are away on holiday. Holidays are meant to be a time of relaxation, so you probably won’t have your mobile phone on you all the time. However, your empty home can be an attractive target for potential burglars. In the event of a break-in, an alarm is triggered by the Bosch Smart Home door/window contacts or motion detectors and a push notification is sent to the user’s smartphone. At the same time, the Help Connect service activates and calls the resident. If the individual cannot be reached, Help Connect will then attempt to call the predefined emergency contact, for example, a reliable neighbour. If it is possible to resolve the problem within the conversation, there is no need for further action; otherwise, Help Connect takes over the case and notifies the police.

Quick Help in Case of Fire

Fires can occur at any given moment, not just when you are away on holiday, but also under everyday circumstances such as when you are at work. . A candle left burning on mistake or a defective electrical appliance could easily start a fire. In the event of a fire, the smoke alarms or Twinguards from Bosch Smart Home detect the smoke and notify the resident via the Bosch Smart Home app. If the resident does not respond to the alarm and cannot be reached via Help Connect, a service employee contacts the emergency contact whose contact details are stored in the app. If Help Connect is unable to reach this contact, the fire brigade is alerted immediately.

Targeted Assistance in Case of Water Leakage

Help Connect also responds in the event of water leakage. If a burst pipe or a defective washing machine or dishwasher causes water leakage, the water detector triggers an alarm and alerts the residents via push notification. If the resident does not respond to the alarm and Help Connect also cannot reach them by phone, the emergency contact is notified. In this case, it is particularly useful if the emergency contact lives nearby and has a spare key to the residence. A caretaker or concierge, for example, can respond quickly to a call from Help Connect. The Help Connect service enables fast and accurately targeted assistance in an emergency, thus helping to avoid and/or minimize property damage and personal injury.

Availability

Help Connect can be booked now via the Bosch Smart Home app.

Users who wish to receive the Help Connect service sign a contract with Bosch.IO. A contract with Help Connect also entitles users to utilize the emergency call service with fall and accident detection from calimoto, a motorbike navigation solution.

Costs: €4.99 per month or €39.99 per year | Cancellation: Monthly for monthly subscriptions and at the latest one month prior to expiry of the subscription for annual subscriptions.

Technical Requirements

In addition to the Bosch Smart Home Controller, the prerequisites for using the Help Connect service is the installation of at least one related Bosch Smart Home device (i.e., smoke alarm, Twinguard, door/window contact, motion detector or water detector), the activation of the Cloud API for data transmission to Help Connect, and the signing of a contract with Bosch.IO GmbH for use of the Help Connect services.